


Five Crushes and an Older Brother

by orphan_account



Series: Five [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Flirting, High School AU, Minor Original Character(s), Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-17 09:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1382563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Ray laid on top of his bed, he realized he had enough memorable mistakes to count up to eight on his fingers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eight Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> Characters, tags, rating, and warnings will be changed as the story goes on! Five Crushes is also posted on my tumblr (http://gavinojonesy.tumblr.com/post/77326110635/title-five-crushes-and-an-older-brother). Will be updated regularly on Sunday or Monday.

As Ray laid on top of his bed, he realized he had enough memorable mistakes to count up to eight on his fingers. One, falling asleep at the barber shop and waking up with a goddamn mohawk. Two, spilling soda on his brother's vintage porno magazine set. Three, having his parents accidentally overhear him as he explained to said brother why the magazines were out in the first place. The last five could be considered as the same problem but he felt they deserved their own fingers. Four, having the biggest fucking crush on his big brother's friend, Geoff. Five, and Jack. Six, and Ryan. Seven, and Michael. Eight, and finally, Gavin.

When the door to his room suddenly flew open, Ray let out a surprised shriek and fell off his twin-sized bed. His outstretched hand knocked an empty Red Bull can and a Master Chief figurine off of his nightstand and onto the floor. His various posters fluttered against the wall, his Starbomb poster threatening to fall. Ray looked over his shoulder to glare at the intruder. It was his older brother, no surprise there. Lucas leaned against the doorframe, his 6'1", toned, Puerto Rican self filling the doorway.

"Hey Ray, counting how many times you've gotten a hard-on for Cortana?" Lucas laughed, obviously amused by his own joke. Ray, however, was silent, glaring at his brother as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Anyways, I have to slip out to go pick up Cath and some pizza. Gavin said to come get you to take my place while I'm gone. Not sure why though, it's just him and Geoff co-oping the Halo 3 campaign for the hundredth time." His older brother didn't even wait for an answer, favoring instead to walk away. Ray grabbed his glasses, slipped them on, and stumbled out of his room just in time to hear the front door slam shut. Shit, it was Friday night Game Night, wasn't it? Ray must've been too occupied with crushes and counting mistakes to remember. He then realized with a childish huff that they hadn't come up to say hi to him. They weren't his friends, but it might've been a nice gesture. The younger Puerto Rican rolled his eyes as he walked down the stairs to the honorary 'man cave'; he couldn't even remember the last time any of those five did anything nice.

When he stepped into the room, he wasn't really surprised to find them tangled together in one way or another. Gavin was in the middle, Geoff to his right and Michael to his left. Michael had one arm around Gavin's waist and the other resting across Ryan's chest. Ryan was laying down, head resting in Michael's lap. Geoff was curled up against Jack. Ray couldn't even tell whose legs were whose, apart from Ryan's as they dangled over the couch's armrest. A few months ago, he'd figured out that the five of them were in a relationship together. By 'figured out', it really meant that Lucas had accidentally let it slip and when Ray asked about it, his brother told him to 'either accept it or shut up'. Lucas thought they were crazy for being in a gay, polyamorous relationship in Austin, Texas, but he was fine with it. If anything, their relationship only made Ray like them more. He wondered for a moment if that would count as another mistake before speaking up,

"Guys? Hey." Not exactly the best entrance but Ray could live with it. Gavin tore his gaze from the T.V. and smiled up at the Puerto Rican. Ray's heart fell into his stomach and his breath stuttered, for just a second.

"X-Ray!" He yelled from his spot in the middle of the bundle. Michael hit him in the arm before he offered his usual greeting,

"Hey fucker, how's it going?" Ray felt like his throat was beginning to collapse in on itself when Michael grinned up at him and he was thankful when the rest of them piped in.

Geoff. "Ray, my favorite Puerto Rican!"

Ryan. "Hey Ray, did your brother leave already?"

Jack. "Always good to see you, Ray."

Ray nodded in their direction as he walked to the bean bag adjacent to the couch and fell onto it. He relaxed as he sunk into it, not even realizing his shoulders had been tensed.

"I can't believe Lucas went to go bang his girlfriend, that fucker won't even be back in what? Two hours? How long did he take last Friday?" Geoff snorted, watching the screen intently as he charged into battle with a plasma rifle. As Ryan opened his mouth to answer, he was interrupted by Gavin squawking as two Elites shot the hell out of him. Or as Gavin put it, 'they bloody just fucked me up the ass!' Ray had to hide his blush when he heard Michael do his best to quietly giggle into Gavin's ear 'I'll fuck you up the ass.'

"Real classy, Team Nice Dynamite. The kid's in here, knock it off." Geoff scolded but he couldn't even hold back his muffled laughter. Ray remembered that he was the kid and that once again, they weren't his friends. He frowned, forcing himself to sink further into the bean bag. He glanced over at them. All of them were focused on the game but Michael was looking over at him. His stomach lurched as he quickly turned to face the T.V.

Shit! Did Michael know? 

Before Ray could overthink the situation, Gavin interrupted his thoughts. Tossing his controller to the floor, he announced,

"Let's watch a movie while Lucas is gone!" The other four agreed, figuring 'why not' considering how many times they'd played through Halo 3.

Ryan. "I have to go use the bathroom, I'll order some pizza while I'm up." With that, the blonde stood and walked out of the man cave to go to the bathroom. Ray took this as his cue to leave so he stood, almost falling onto the ground when the bean bag decided to cave in on itself. Gavin was the first to notice, which surprised the Puerto Rican considering the Brit had been trying to decide on a movie to watch.

"X-Ray? Where are you going?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Uh... well, I just thought I should leave you guys alone, to watch your movie..." Ray shrugged, looking away.

"That's bollocks! You have to watch it with us. Come sit on the couch." Gavin motioned to the couch, grinning. Ray nodded, smiling back at him. He took a seat at the end of the couch, curling up against the armrest. As Gavin settled on Sharknado, Ray yawned. Ryan finally got back a moment later, saying he'd ordered two pizzas; one with extra cheese and one supreme. 

Twenty minutes into the movie, Ray found his attention straying over to the others on the couch. He kept seeing small movements in the corner of his eyes and it was a bit more interesting than a tornado of sharks. Geoff and Jack had moved to curl up with Ryan, leaving Team Lads on the right side of the couch. Gavin and Michael were wrapped up in each other. Ray figured they didn't notice he was watching. God, he hoped they didn't know; he didn't want them to think he was a creep. The Puerto Rican was not prepared to see Michael pull Gavin up onto his chest to press their lips together. The kiss itself was short and sweet, muffling their giggles. Ray sputtered, eyes wide as a flush washed over his cheeks. He pulled himself off of the couch, legs shaky from being curled up for so long.

"Ray?" Gavin and Michael said simultaneously, looking up at him with confused expressions. Ray tried so hard not to imagine himself kissing both of them like that. He opened his mouth to answer but closed it, fearing what he'd say. He felt like a beached fish. The Puerto Rican muttered an excuse that sounded like a jumble of words and turned, fleeing up the stairs to his room.

He didn't come out; not when Geoff and Ryan came to check up on him, not even when the pizza arrived. He did sneak down at 1:47 a.m. though to grab a few slices, knowing the boys were asleep on the couch in the man-cave. When he had left his room, he'd heard a deep, powerful snore rumble from his brother's room. At least his brother was back.


	2. Apologies and Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast itself was just a shit ton of scrambled eggs and half a loaf of toast.

Ray stared at the door from his spot on his bed. He was starving and it was only 12:00 p.m. His plan to avoid his brother's friends was quickly becoming null and void as he stomach grumbled. Christ, he should just suck it up and go grab a bowl of cereal or something to satiate the fucking monster growling in his stomach. Judging by the racket from the kitchen down the hall, all the boys were up and making breakfast. Or just clanging pots and yelling at each other, he couldn't tell the difference.

Should he go out there?

What would they say?

Could he just ignore them?

His mental debate on whether or not he should swallow his pride long enough to grab breakfast was interrupted by someone knocking on his door.

"Ray? Open up." Lucas called to him from the other side of the door. Ray remained silent.

"I know you're in there shithead, you haven't come out all morning. Listen, Michael and Gavin told me what happened and they want to apologize but they can't if you hole yourself up in there all weekend." His older brother jiggled the door knob, making sure to not open it if Ray didn't want to talk.

"I... uh, okay, the door's unlocked." Ray said rather meekly, his racing heart climbing up into his throat. When the door opened, Michael shuffled in first with Gavin right behind him. Lucas walked to the kitchen, leaving them to their business.

"Hey Ray, so about last night-" Michael began only to be cut off by Gavin.

"We're really sorry! We didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. We didn't know... augh, we're complete smegpots." Gavin frowned, looking down at the ground. Ray just stared at them, trying to find his voice as his heart fell back into his stomach. No, that was all wrong. God, the Puerto Rican wanted to throw himself out of his window. The kiss hadn’t really made him uncomfortable, it had just surprised him. It was also rather embarrassing, considering Ray had spent an hour after seeing the kiss imagining being in Gavin’s spot, in Michael’s spot, and in between the two. The kiss had maybe even made him a little lonely considering the last 'relationship' he had was in 7th grade when Ray had asked out a girl and she broke up with him two days later being he was being 'too gay.' And that was before he knew he was gay. Hell, Ray's only real friends were Caleb, Kerry, and Miles. Ray wasn't sure if Joel counted since they only sometimes stopped to talk to each other in the halls at school and like his crushes, Joel was a senior. Ray, being a sophomore, wasn't sure how they could be more than school friends. Michael clearing his throat snapped Ray from out of his thoughts.

"I guess we'll just go..." The curly-haired boy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Wait, guys, it's fine. You didn't make me uncomfortable or anything, I was just being dumb." Ray managed to crack a smile at the pair. Gavin lit up, relieved that Ray wasn't angry with him.

"Okay, awesome. Lucas would've kicked our ass if his little brother hadn't forgiven us. Now come on, you've been in this room all fucking morning. You have to be hungry." Michael grinned, holding out his hand to Ray. The Puerto Rican took it, almost falling on his face when Michael roughly pulled him off the bed and wrapped arm around his shoulders. They stumbled into the hallway, Gavin whining as he hung off of Michael's shoulder. Literally.

"Get off of me dickhead!" Michael shouted, letting go of Ray to chase after Gavin to the kitchen. When Ray caught up, everyone was there. Geoff was trying to help Ryan, who was cooking breakfast. Lucas, who made no move to stop Ryan from cooking in a house that wasn't his own, sat at the table with Jack. Gavin and Michael stood by the table, giggling.

"You're my lovely little boi, Michael!" The Brit cooed.

"Gavin, shut the fuck up." Michael snorted a laugh.

The oddest thing about the exchange was the respectable distance between the two. Ray hated it, he knew why they weren't toe to toe or even hand to hand. He didn't want them to accommodate him. He wanted them to be openly affectionate. God, that sounded so creepy. Ray couldn't help it though, he just wanted them to be happy. Then Ray could be happy for them. And of course, he could imagine himself in the middle of it all. About ten minutes later, minus the five minutes Ryan spent trying to get Geoff away from the stove so he could finish up, breakfast was ready. Breakfast itself was just a shit ton of scrambled eggs and half a loaf of toast. When Ryan handed him a plate with a smile and a soft 'afternoon, Ray', Ray felt his stomach tie itself in a knot. He said thank you and took the plate to go sit down at the table.

They were all more or less done an hour later. Eggs had been spilled on the floor and toast had been half eaten and thrown. Ray's stomach hurt from laughing and he couldn't stop smiling. Everyone was grinning actually, even Lucas as he checked his phone. After he sent out a text to someone, he rose from his seat and nodded towards his five friends.

"We should head out soon if we want to hit the arcade before the movie." Lucas said, tucking his phone in his pocket. Ray noticed for the first time that he was the only one in pajamas.

"Shit, already? Why are we seeing a movie at 3:45?" Michael complained as he stood up too.

"Matinee discount, assholes." The older Puerto Rican snorted. There were several other complaints and a few groans as they all stood up, Ray included.

"Guys, wait up, it'll take me like five minutes to get some jeans on and brush my teeth." Ray grinned before turning and hurrying towards his room.

"Ray? What the fuck? You're not going." Lucas scoffed, rolling his eyes. Ray stopped and turned to face his brother, eyes wide.

"What? I thought..." He trailed off.

"You thought what? No, you're not going, Christ. I need you to stay here anyways and clean up the kitchen since we have to go." His older brother shook his head as if pitying Ray. Ray didn't notice him. A flush had washed over his face and he could feel his heartbeat in his stomach. He was even red at the tips of his ears. Ray however, did notice the other staring at him with the same looks.

"Lucas, maybe he could come along. I don't know, it'll keep the bloody mong from being holed up in the house all day." Gavin suddenly spoke up, giving Ray a small smile. Ray might've just fallen on his knees to thank the Brit if Lucas hadn't interrupted him.

"I don't want to babysit him all damn day. He can handle himself, he's been home alone plenty of times." Lucas waved a hand as if to dismiss the idea. The others didn't speak up though, choosing to just look away or play with the hem of their shirt.

Michael. "Sorry Ray."

Geoff. "Maybe next time, bud."

Jack. "We could rent a movie to watch later."

Ryan. "Yeah, if that'd make you feel better."

Ray shook his head, mumbling another jumbled excuse as to why that'd just be a waste of time. He looked down at the floor and didn't look back up when he heard their feet shuffling to the front door. When Gavin patted him in the shoulder and said,

"Sorry Ray, I tried." 

Ray kept his head down. When he heard the front door open and slam shut, he finally looked up. Humiliation burned his core and frustrated tears pricked his eyes as he began cleaning up the kitchen.


	3. Tummy Ache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m not going to avoid them, this is my house too,” he muttered to his room.

Ray didn't see the gang until the next weekend. He wanted to think that he really didn't care. They shouldn't even bother him, they weren't his friends. Lucas had made that clear before leaving him to clean up a mess of smashed scrambled eggs and half-chewed crusts. He was just stepping into his room with a bag of Doritos when he heard someone knocking on the front door loudly. Ray quickly ducked inside his bedroom and closed the door behind him as his heart sped up. He could hear Lucas jog to the door and open it. There was muffled laughter and multiple voices. When he heard them thundering down the stairs, he climbed under his covers with his 3DS and his chips. As he powered on his handheld, he stared up at the ceiling.

“I’m not going to avoid them, this is my house too,” he muttered to his room. He turned his head to look at the Master Chief figurine on his nightstand.

“If you can fuck up the Covenant and the Flood, I can handle being around them after… that.” Ray said firmly, nodding towards him. The figurine just stared back at him, completely still. The Puerto Rican groaned, smacking him off of his nightstand. Master Chief didn’t have to deal with the reminder of being humiliated in front of all five of his crushes though.

“You are no help, I swear to God.” He groaned. The red light of his 3DS’s low power caught his eye but he knew that his charger and its respective outlet were all the way on the other side of his room. Goddammit. Ray pulled himself up into a sitting position, accidentally crushing his Doritos with his elbow in the process. He groaned again in annoyance, not even bothering to shove the shards of Doritos off of his bed or back into the bag. He stood and dragged himself to his charger. After plugging in, splaying himself out across his carpet, and tending to the needs of his Animal Crossing townspeople for about thirty minutes, someone knocked on his door gently. Ray raised his eyebrows slightly, glancing at the door.

“Who’s there?” Half of Ray was praying that it was Lucas just coming to check up on him and the other half of him hoped it was anyone from the gang.

“Geoff and these two other fucks.” Geoff drawled from the other side of the door.

“It’s Jack, Ryan, and Geoff.” Jack said a moment later, rolling his eyes. Ray floundered, trying to straighten himself out.

“Uhh, come in?” He called to them, quickly sitting up. He gripped his 3DS in his hands to keep them from trembling. The door opened slowly and Jack stepped in first, Ryan and Geoff coming in after him. They stood in a line, none of them laughing or smiling like Ray was used to. It scared him, honestly. Did he do something wrong?

“Hey Ray, so, uhh… how was your week?” Jack asked, managing an awkward smile.

“Well, it was boring, I guess,” Ray answered with a shrug. Is this all they came in here to do, just ask him how he was doing?

“Christ, Jack, just move on.” The Puerto Rican could hear Geoff whisper to Jack from his place behind him. Jack nodded, exhaling.

“Right. We wanted to talk to you about what happened last Saturday…” Jack trailed off. He wasn’t sure of how to word it but it didn’t matter, Ryan took up where he left off.

“It was a shitty thing to do. We were thinking about it all this week and we realized just how embarrassing it must’ve been.”

“So… we’re sorry that we didn’t say anything. Christ, I just can’t believe that Gavin said something before we did,” Geoff added. Ray was shocked. Pleased, but shocked. Maybe he did mean more to them than their friend’s dumb little brother. Before he could say anything though, Jack spoke up.

“And we’re sorry you had to clean up the kitchen.” Ray smiled before replying.

“It’s alright, thank you for apologizing and stuff. And Geoff?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m ninety-five percent sure that you can’t make a Tower of Pimps out of a smashed piece of toast and eggs,” Ray said with a grin, his stomach fluttering when Geoff laughed.

“That’s still a five percent chance.” They were all smiling, it felt better now.

“You should come downstairs. Michael and Gav brought their 3DSs so you won’t have to just sit around and watch me and Lucas split-screen Black Ops,” Ryan said.

“Yeah, sure. Just… like give me a few seconds.” Ray nodded towards his charging 3DS. The other three boys nodded too before walking out, leaving Ray alone. When Ray looked up, he noticed they hadn’t closed the door all the way. Those assholes. When Ray pulled himself up onto his knees to crawl to the door, he heard their quiet voices out in the hallway. It was hard to pick apart who was saying who.

“Do you think he’s really okay with it? I would’ve been pissed if I had been in his place,” Geoff asked in a hushed tone.

“He’s probably not okay with what happened but he’s okay with us,” Jack answered.

“Stop worrying. If he was mad at us, he wouldn’t be coming downstairs,” Ryan said.

“Is he mad at Lucas?” asked Geoff.

“Lucas said that Ray hasn’t said more than five words to him this entire week,” Jack replied.

“Ouch,” Geoff winced.

“Lucas won’t apologize either. I mean, I know who he fucking is but siblings still say sorry to each other,” Ryan said, clearly frustrated.

“Don’t get all riled up about it, you know that fucker won’t change his mind about that.”

Ray didn’t hear anymore talking but there was soft laughter and a thump that had him peeking out of his room. Just down the hall, near the door to the stairs, were the three boys. Jack was leaning against the door, grinning at Geoff and Ryan. Geoff had Ryan pinned against the wall and was mouthing at his neck. Ryan was letting out small, stuttering noises.

“Geoff, really?” Jack asked.

“Just helping Ryan calm down.”

“You’re an asshole,” Ryan breathed.

“Come on, Ray could step out any moment. You know what happened last time he saw Michael and Gavin kissing.” Geoff reluctantly detached himself from Ryan, but not before kissing him on the lips. When they closed the door behind them and went down the stairs, Ray collapsed on the floor. He rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes. He would fucking pay to hear Ryan make those noises again.

“Okay Chief, you can blow up the fucking Halo but I’m pretty sure you’ve never had to deal with Ryan or Geoff or any of them for that matter of fact.” Ray said to the figurine lying face down in his carpet as he pulled himself back over to his 3DS. He grabbed his handheld, unplugged it, and climbed up onto his feet. It should be good for about… an hour, until he needed to plug it back in. Ray hurried out of his room and to the door before the stairs, stopping for a moment to take in a deep breath, before going down the stairs. The moment he was out of the doorway and into the man cave, he was greeted by Geoff yelling,

“Rayman!”

Both Gavin and Michael looked up at the same time, grinning.

Gavin. “Finally, X-Ray is here!”

Michael. “Took you long enough.”

Lucas didn’t even bother looking away from the screen, he was too focused on getting through the tenth round of Zombie Mode. Lucas could shoot the shit out of anyone on any normal map in Black Ops, but he could not get through more than twelve rounds in Zombie Mode to save his life. Ray rolled his eyes at his brother and sat with Michael and Gavin, who were squished together with their 3DSs in their hands.

“Hey Ray, what are you playing?” Michael asked, looking over at him.

“Animal Crossing.”

“Damn, I was hoping it was Pokemon X. I can’t get an Entei to save my fucking life,” Michael groaned.

“I’m helping!” Gavin piped in.

“Gavin, you and your shitty Grass type Pokemon aren’t helping at all.”

“Do not insult my Leafeon, you mong!”

Ray grinned as he listened to them argue about which type of Pokemon was the best; Gavin was fiercely defending Grass type. Forty minutes later, Lucas gave his controller to Jack and pushed himself off of the couch. Before he could say where he was going, Geoff interrupted.

“You’re going to see your girlfriend, we know. You do this every Friday.”

Lucas rolled his eyes, “Just don’t break anything while I’m gone.”

Five minutes after Lucas left the man-cave Ray heard the front door slam shut, and ten minutes after that his 3DS red-lighted. He turned it off with a sigh and relaxed against the couch. Listening to all five of his crushes laugh, joke, and argue with each other was something he honestly looked forward to every weekend. Especially on the Friday nights when Lucas was gone and he couldn’t yell at Ray for being around his friends for too long. He wished it could be like this constantly. Ray could feel his heart beat speed up even before it hit him; he could tell them. He could tell them right here, right now. Lucas was gone and they were all in a good mood apart from Ray, who was quickly finding himself on the verge of a heart attack. What was the worst thing that could happen? What was the best thing that could happen? His heart was absolutely pounding in his ears as he imagined how it would go, what witty and romantic things he would say.

He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t find his voice. Half of his mind was screaming at him to be quiet, the other half was telling him to fucking say it already. He felt queasy as the anxious feeling buzzed in every part of his body. Ray should tell them. They could like him back, he knew that was a possibility! Oh god, what if they did like him back? What would Lucas say?

“Ray? You alright?” Gavin’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Ray looked over at the Brit, feeling guilty when he saw the concerned look on his face.

“You look sick,” Michael commented, frowning.

Ray shook his head quickly, “No, no, I’m fine. It’s just…”

“Let’s just watch a movie, you should lay down. No need to make yourself goddamn vomit,” Michael cut him off, taking the 3DS from his hands. Ray sighed, lying down and resting his head on the armrest. As Jack got onto Netflix and started scrolling through movies, Ray finished his thought, too terrified to say it out loud,

_It’s just I have the biggest crush on all fucking five of you, please like me back._


	4. The Hard Question; How?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One thermometer and a sympathetic tummy rub from his mother later, Ray was pronounced truly sick. Turns out his crush angst wasn’t the only thing making it hard to keep down his Doritos.

The weekend passed by quickly. Ray had spent most of his free time with the gang, much to Lucas's annoyance. Ray had tried not to think about his crush on the five of them or about telling them about the crush for fear of upchucking all of his stomach's contents. More often than not he had to lay down because the anxiety was turning his stomach so violently. There was just so many things that worried him about this whole situation.

What if he spilled his guts to them and they just laughed it off as a joke?

Or better yet, what if they liked him back? What would Lucas do?

Ray groaned, a gurgle escaping his throat as his stomach lurched and crowded into his chest. Here he was, alone in the man-cave on the verge of throwing up for the second time that day on a Wednesday afternoon. He had actually caught some sort of bullshit virus. His mom had come home late Sunday and before they had left, the gang told her Ray had been sick the entire weekend. One thermometer and a sympathetic tummy rub from his mother later, Ray was pronounced truly sick. Turns out his crush angst wasn't the only thing making it hard to keep down his Doritos. He really should've been suspicious when he threw up Sunday morning when everyone else had been asleep. Ray had figured it was just the stress of the crush.

The worst of it had passed on Monday and Tuesday. The only thing Ray minded was throwing up, other than that, he was fine. He got to binge watch terrible movies on Netflix, eat buttered toast, and get taken care of by his mom. It was a nice distraction from his crush and he got to spend some time with her.

"Hey Ray? Do you need anything else? The milk's gone bad so I need to stop by the store," his mom said as she walked down the stairs to the man-cave. She leaned over the back of the couch, smiling down at her youngest son. Ray looked up at her. She looked so tired. She worked weekends and was commonly being called in during the week. Ray was almost always asleep when she was home, and awake when she wasn't. Her job made good money though. It gave them a roof to live under, games to play, and food to eat. Ray was thankful for how hard she worked but goddammit, she was barely ever home. He missed his mom. Ray held up his hand and she grabbed it gently, squeezing it lovingly.

"Something on your mind, bub?" she asked. Ray nodded, biting his lip. Could he tell her? When he had come out to her, she'd told him that she would love him no matter what. Did that love extend to a son with five older, definitely gay crushes?

"Could I talk to you about something? It's important," Ray's voice was quiet and hoarse.

"Of course. What is it?" She released his hand and came around the side of the couch to sit next to Ray.

"Okay, hypothetically speaking, if I were to have multiple crushes, how would I go about telling them?" he asked. His mom just sat there, rolling the question over in her mind.

"Oh man, that's a tough one, bub," she said softly, wrapping an arm around Ray's shoulder. Ray sank into her side, grateful for the touch. If she was gone for long enough, Ray could almost trick himself into not missing her so much. It was moments like these that came back around later to remind him of her absence.

"I think I need to know who this lucky bunch is first,” she said as she smiled down at him encouragingly. She already had a hunch for who it was, she just wanted to be sure. Ray took in a shaky breath, burying his face in her side. She was silent as Ray built up the courage to tell her. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he whispered,

"Still hypothetically speaking, it might be the gang, you know." His already fever-flushed cheeks darkened. His mom nodded in understanding, rubbing his arm absentmindedly.

"Five people, huh... five older boys, might I add. I'm not sure I'm too surprised though. Do you know how much you talk about those five when Lucas isn't around? It's like, he leaves the room and you open the floodgates to what you guys did that weekend," she mused.

"I don't talk about them that often," Ray mumbled, pouting.

"I'm also guessing you don't want to date just one of them." Ray nodded in response.

"If you think you're ready for that kind of relationship, then I think you need to go ahead and tell them. I can't even imagine how complex their relationship must be. I mean, it's hard enough being with one person, I can't imagine five. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go for it, though. I just want you to be prepared," she spoke slowly, almost carefully.

"Should I just tell them?" Ray whined, his stomach nearly jostling his heart. He had been hoping there could've been an easier way to tell them other than... actually telling them.

"Of course," she nodded, "their relationship is based off of love, trust, and honesty. At least, that's what I can see. You need to be willing to take the risk to tell them. For better or worse, they'll see that you trust them that much." Ray just sat there silently, absorbing her words. Surely there had to be an easier way. 

"What about Lucas, though?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Just worry about telling them. If Lucas becomes a problem, I'll talk to him about it. Okay?" she looked back down at him, offering him a soft smile.

"Okay," he smiled back. His mother's smile widened and she pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

"I have to get going now. You'll be fine by yourself while I go get groceries, right?"

"Right."

"Good. Love you, bub."

"Love you too, mom." Ray said as he watched her pull herself off of the couch. She gave him one last kiss on the forehead before she walked up the stairs.

"Bye, bub!" she called to him as she closed the door behind her.

"Have fun at the store!" Ray yelled back just before he heard the door to his room shut. He heard the front door open and slam shut ten minutes later. With his mother once again gone from the house, Ray sighed and splayed himself out onto the couch.

Christ, could he really just tell them?

Should he even tell them?

Before his inner monologue could get any more cynical than 'should he even try', his phone's text tone rang out in the quiet room.

"What up, bitch! I'ma tell you a tale about how Ash Ketchum got his ass sent to jail. Bea-" Ray opened the text before the song could get any farther. He loved Starbomb, don't get him wrong but the loud song was aggravating the headache that was beginning to form behind his eyes.

**From: actual puppy miles  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:12pm**  
 _where are u? me and kerry don't have anything to do in study hall without our puerto rican!_

**From: rayman  
To: actual puppy miles  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:14pm**  
 _ive been throwing up since sunday. is caleb gone too??_

**From: actual puppy miles  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:17pm**  
 _no, mr sorola moved him to the other side of the room on monday because he was laughing too much. i told him to shut up!_

**From: rayman  
To: actual puppy miles  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:19pm**  
 _ahaha good ol caleb. okay so has anything important happened?_

**From: actual puppy miles  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:25pm**  
 _u missed the chemistry test and thats about it. i mean joel and adam are talking about outlast behind me and kerry, but i don't know if that counts._

**From: rayman  
To: actual puppy miles  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:27pm**  
 _shit i knew we had a test. was it easy?_

**From: actual puppy miles  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:28pm**  
 _as easy as the legendary difficulty in halo 4._

**From: rayman  
To: actual puppy miles  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:30pm**  
 _i beat that shit a week ago on legendary._

**From: actual puppy miles  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:33pm**  
 _okay, if u were a normal human being who sucked at video games, it would've been that hard._

**From: rayman  
To: actual puppy miles  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:37pm**  
 _its not my fault u guys can play halo to save your life. thats not what i wanted to ask u though. okay so i need some advice. if i were to like several different people at once, how would i tell them?_

**From: actual puppy miles  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:38pm**  
 _its ur brothers friends, isn't it? kerry agrees that its probably his friends_

**From: rayman  
To: actual puppy miles  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:39pm**  
 _what the fuck why can everyone tell_

**From: actual puppy miles  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:45pm**  
 _ur always talking about video games, hanging out with us, or them. anyways im not sure, i mean i could barely ask arryn out. kerry thinks u should just tell them, otherwise ur not gonna get anywhere. i agree. theres really no other way to go about asking five people out._

**From: rayman  
To: actual puppy miles  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:47pm**  
 _christ, i guess so. are u, kerry, and caleb hanging out on friday?_

**From: actual puppy miles  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:49pm**  
 _yeah, we're going to kerry's house. if asking them out doesn't work, u can come over._

**From: rayman  
To: actual puppy miles  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:52pm**  
 _okay cool, can u guys stop by later with the homework i missed?_

**From: actual puppy miles**  
To: rayman  
Wed, Oct 4, 2:53pm  
 _yeah totally, just don't get me sick lol_

Ray didn't reply, he just tossed it away and buried himself under his blankets.

"I guess it's decided, I'll tell them on Friday," he muttered to the quiet room before he turned on the TV.


	5. Joke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray wasn’t sick anymore but the anxiety that was currently steamrolling his stomach could’ve fooled him.

Ray wasn't sick anymore but the anxiety that was currently steamrolling his stomach could've fooled him. It was Friday now and the gang had been over since Ray had gotten home from school. He had managed to choke out a weak 'hi' before fleeing to his room. Ray hoped to God that it hadn't somehow given him away to them.

He looked at himself in the mirror for the hundredth time since he had locked himself in there. It had been about an hour before Lucas was set to leave. It gave Ray enough time to make himself somewhat presentable and calm his nerves. All Ray had managed to do was comb his hair and throw on a pair of clean jeans and a black flannel shirt he'd found at the back of his closet. It was wrinkled and a bit too big but it was the only button-up he seemed to own. Ray couldn't think of any way to calm himself down, he didn't even think there was a way. Here he was, ready and (sort of) willing to lay himself down on the shitty choppy block that was him telling someone he likes them. Ugh, he was going to throw up. There was a sudden knock on the door and Ray almost tripped over himself into the bathtub.

"Hey Ray, you alright? You've been in there for a while," Lucas asked from the other side of the door. He sounded mildly concerned for his little brother.

"Yeah! I- uh, I think I had a bad lunch or something," Ray answered, biting his lip.

"Okay, I'm headed out now. There should be something in the medicine cabinet to help with your stomach. Remember the air freshener, asshole!" just like that, the concern dissolved away into a joke and Ray's older brother was off. When Ray heard the front door slam shut, he let out a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding. He collapsed against the wall and slid down to the ground. Telling one person about his crush on them was one thing; telling five people was something entirely different. Not to mention he had already packed his backpack to spend the weekend at Kerry’s in case of emergency, he could just leave right now and ignore the whole problem. Ha, he’d brought that one up to his mom and she had gently smacked him on the head, telling him he’d regret it. Ray knew he would but goddamn, he was so used to taking the easy way out and this was one thing he couldn’t just half-ass his way through.

“I can fucking do this! I know I can do this. I just… I have to get off of the floor,” Ray whispered to himself, letting his head fall back against the wall as he pulled his knees up to his chest. He wasn’t even out of the bathroom yet and his heart was already pounding just from thinking about it. All he needed to do was go downstairs and give them a hopefully heartfelt and quirky speech on how much he likes them. 

Best case scenario? They liked him back. 

Worst case scenario? He didn’t even want to imagine it.

For just a moment, Ray let himself imagine how it would play out. Maybe it would just be a lot of blushing, fumbling, and shy kisses. Ray knocked himself out of his thoughts when a nervous giggle bubbled up in his throat and spilled from his lips. Fuck, if he could get through the speech without throwing up or laughing like an idiot, it would be a miracle.

Ray finally pulled himself back onto his feet and forced a deep breath in and out of his lungs. He smoothed down his hair and straightened out his wrinkled shirt; it would have to do for now. Ray opened the bathroom door slowly and stepped out into the hallway. It was empty and quiet apart from the muffled laughter and the sound of explosions coming from the downstairs. He glanced over at his room’s closed door, imagining the backpack just sitting there on his bed, waiting for him to take it and leave. Ray shook his head, sighing.

“Wish me good luck, Master Chief,” he muttered as he made his way to the door that led to the stairs. Ray opened it with trembling hands. The noises became louder and swallowed up his quiet, stuttering breaths. As he descended down the stairs, he felt like his legs would give out any moment now. The moment his foot hit the bottom step and he saw the five on the couch playing Black Ops, his heart clambered up into his throat and his lungs practically collapsed. Oh god, why did he think this was a good idea? Before he could turn and run back up the stairs, Geoff turned his head away from the screen and spotted him.

“Ray! You’re looking top this fine evening,” the older boy drawled as he grinned at the Puerto Rican. Ray couldn’t help the blush that washed over his cheeks. Before he could say anything, the other four pitched in their greetings.

Michael. “Hey fucker!”

Gavin. “X-Ray, finally!”

Ryan. “Ray, hey, I didn’t know you owned anything other than t-shirts.”

Jack. “You got something big going on tonight?” As Ray opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted again by another explosion. While they laughed and threw insults at each other (mainly towards Gavin), Ray pondered on the possibly that maybe God was trying to tell him to just fucking go back upstairs. Of course, Ray never really listened to himself or God for that matter.

“G-guys? Can I talk to you about s-something?” Ray stammered, an anxious smile turning up the corners of his lips. Dammit, if he couldn’t force it off, they’d never take him seriously! The video game was paused a moment later and as Ray walked around the couch to the front of the room, all attention was turned on him.

“Yeah, of course. What is it?” Jack asked, sounding somewhat concerned despite the smile tugging at his lips. Ray’s heart threatened to burst out of his ribcage. He took in a deep breath before he began,

“Okay, so… shit. I’ve been wanting to tell you guys this for a long time now,” he could feel giggles rising in the back of his throat. Or maybe it was vomit, he honestly couldn’t tell at the very moment. Ray however, could tell he was blushing violently due to the burning feeling in his cheeks.

“Anyways… I - uh, Christ, this is hard to say,” Ray broke off into stiff laughter before he continued, his stomach dropping into his fucking toes, “Fuck! I like you, okay? All of you. I don’t mean as in ‘just a friend’ sort of way. I’ve liked all of you for a really long time and I really want to turn your five into a six. I mean YOLO, right?” Ray ended with an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. When he got no immediate reply, he bit his lip and looked over them. As he watched grins spread across their faces, his heart shot into the ceiling. Oh fuck, did they like him back? His own smile turned genuine and he opened his mouth to speak, then Michael burst out into laughter. Gavin and Geoff followed close behind, collapsing onto each other. His heart had already fell to the floor and broke upon impact when Ryan and Jack started laughing too. Now he was certain it was vomit crawling up the back of his throat, not nervous laughter.

“That was the gayest thing ever!” Michael giggled into Gavin’s shoulder.

“Hey Ray, keep a straight face next time and it might be believable,” Geoff snorted. Normally Ray could’ve spent hours listening to them laugh, but right now, it felt like a crushing force aimed right for his internal organs. Ray couldn’t believe it, they thought he was joking. His already flushed face darkened and a whimper slipped from his lips. They could’ve shot him right through the skull and Ray imagined it would’ve felt the same. Tears welled up in his eyes and a pathetic sob caught in his throat. He didn’t care too much to be honest, he couldn’t imagine a worse way to embarrass himself in front of the gang. Ray was the first to notice and the blonde boy’s laughter died almost immediately.

“It wasn’t a joke,” Ray whispered miserably. He ran past the couch and up the stairs, crying fitfully. He was so fucking dumb! What was he even thinking? They had each other, they didn’t need some idiot kid. God, if anything, he was the joke. The laughter had stopped long before Ray closed the door behind him. He didn’t hear any footsteps on the stairs either. Ray couldn’t believe he had managed to trick himself into believing that telling them about his crush would go well. Christ, he finally got the courage up to tell them and they laughed at him! Ray stumbled into his room and fell into his bed, sobbing. When he could take a deep breath without breaking into a fresh set of tears, he called Miles.

_“Hey, Ray. How’d it go?”_

“F-Fuck… not very well. They laughed.”

_“Damn. I’ll get Kerry to ask his mom to go get you.”_

“Alright.”

_“Kerry, go ask your mom to go pick up Ray! What? No! I’m not going to ask her myself, she’s your mom. Just go ask, okay? Ray’s thing didn’t go that well. He told me they laughed. Yeah, I can’t believe they did that either. Now run along, hobbit boy. Ray?”_

“Yeah?”

_“Kerry went to go get his mom. We’ll see you in like ten minutes, okay?”_

“Okay, I’ll be here. See you, Miles.”

_“See ya’, Ray!”_

After Miles hung up, Ray shot Lucas a quick text.

**From: rayman**  
To: no luca no  
Oct Fri 6, 7:42pm   
_im going to kerrys for the weekend. ur friends are here alone._

There was no reply. Ray didn’t expect anything else. About twelve minutes later, his phone went off.

**From: mama shawcross**  
To: rayman  
Oct Fri 6, 7:54pm   
_im outside, sweetie! the boys made me come alone but thats alright. Miles told me whats wrong, we can talk about it if you want._

Ray picked himself up out of the bed, wiping away snot and stray tears. He grabbed his bag and stepped out of the room. He wouldn’t come back until Sunday, when the boys were gone and his mom was home. Before he could to the front door, the door to the downstairs opened and Ray’s eyes met Ryan’s. Ray looked away almost immediately and hurried out of the house. Ryan didn’t follow him. As he closed the front door behind him, his shoulders sagged when he realized none of them had bothered to follow after him. If that didn’t make it worse, he didn’t know what would. Ray looked up and saw Mrs. Shawcross’s minivan in his driveway, Mrs. Shawcross standing outside of it. He crossed the distance between them and without a second thought, he walked into her arms. When he started crying again, she rubbed his back and waited for him to calm down. She wasn’t his mom, that was for sure, but for now, this was all he needed.

_Thank god for moms._


	6. Pizza Flirts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As far as Ray was concerned, he had two options here. He could go try and find something in the kitchen for him to eat, or he could suck it up and go indulge in the greasy, cheesy goodness that was delivery pizza, since it was most likely located in the den alongside the gang.

It had only been an hour before the gang showed up when Ray found out there would be a new addition to Game Night and for once, it wasn’t Ray. Ray snorted as he flopped down onto his bed, figuring that he’d probably never have a place in Game Night again after the incident. No, fuck that, Ray didn’t want his place in Game Night anymore. Having an entire week to mull over what had happened gave Ray time to realize that they he didn’t mean as much to them as they meant to him, and that was fucked up. Each time the memory of them laughing at him passed through the back of his head, a bubble of hurt formed in his throat and it pissed him off. They hadn't even tried to apologize or make the situation better after they realized that no, he hadn't been joking.

Ray burrowed under his blankets. They would be arriving any minute now with Joel in tow. When Lucas had told him that Joel would be coming over too, Ray had been confused for a moment. Joel was his friend. Then he realized that Joel was probably more their friend than his. At least when Lucas left, there would be someone here that hadn't laughed at him after he confessed his crush to them.

When he heard knocking, he gritted his teeth. When he heard them running down the hall, he gripped two handfuls of his blanket tightly. A few moments later, there were slower footsteps passing his door and familiar voice that sounded fairly uncomfortable called out,

"What do you guys mean Lucas is leaving later?"

Ray muffled a chuckle into his pillow as he shoved his blanket onto the floor. He sat up and just waited. Five minutes passed and no one came up to say hello or to tell him to come downstairs. Ray clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut as he fell back against his bed. What was he expecting? Those assholes didn't need him. He pulled himself off of his bed and shuffled over to lightswitch. Before he turned it off, he shucked off his jeans and tossed them aside.

"This is bullshit, I feel trapped in my own house," Ray grumbled, slumping back to his bed before he picked up his blanket, "Do you have any tips, Master Chief?"

Silence. Ray settled against his bed and closed his eyes. He figured he might as well try and be unconscious for most of the weekend.

When Ray woke up, the light that had been filtering through his closed blinds had darkened considerably. He peeled away his blanket, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Jesus, how long had he been asleep? Ray groaned as he stretched. His hand scrambled to find his phone on his nightstand, managing to bump into a random assortment of objects onto the floor in the process. There was a small metallic ping as a can caught the corner of his nightstand and fell off. Ray just hoped it was empty. When he finally found his phone and pressed the home button, it lit up almost violently, causing Ray to whine as he winced. Narrowing his eyes so he could still see, Ray found that it was 8:45 p.m. Lucas was most likely long gone and apparently, Ray had three new messages. All of them were from Joel.

**From: neurotic erotic  
To: rayman  
Oct Fri 11, 6:40 pm**  
 _Ray where the fuck is Lucas going?_

**From: neurotic erotic  
To: rayman  
Oct Fri 11, 7:26 pm**  
 _Are you fucking asleep? You should come downstairs, there are unattended house guests running rampant._

**From: neurotic erotic**  
To: rayman  
Oct Fri 11, 8:37 pm  
 _There's pizza down here now. I'm bribing you, is it working?_

As if on cue, Ray's stomach growled and he realized just how hungry he was. He dropped his phone and let it fall back asleep. As far as Ray was concerned, he had two options here. He could go try and find something in the kitchen for him to eat, or he could suck it up and go indulge in the greasy, cheesy goodness that was delivery pizza, since it was most likely located in the den alongside the gang. Ray's stomach had already made the decision for him as he slid out of his bed. He made his way through the dark, stepping in a small wet patch on his carpet. Hint, the can that he had knocked over wasn't as empty as he had hoped it to be. He grabbed what felt like a shirt and tossed it on top of the wet spot, calling it good. He managed to locate his pants too and before he left, he pulled them on. 

Ray stumbled out of his room, his limbs still tired from the nap. Even in his exhausted state, his heart still managed to pound against his rib cage. He could do this, right? Just get downstairs, grab a few slices, and head back up to watch Netflix on his tablet. Ray approached the door to the basement, taking in a deep breath. He could hear them yelling. Jesus Christ, did they know how to speak in a normal voice? He opened the door and walked down the stairs slowly. Funny, he had had this same feeling last Friday. When he stepped out onto the ground, he was silent. Joel was the first to notice him from his place on the bean bag.

"Jesus, Ray, took you long enough. I thought you weren't going to take the bribe for a moment," he grinned.

"You know I can't resist pizza, I was just waking up from a nap," Ray shrugged as he walked to the pizza box that was closest to Joel and opened it. It was mushrooms and cheese. He grabbed a slice and took a bite. Ray could feel the gang's eyes on him but he pointedly ignored them in favor of paying attention to Joel.

"Of course. Come on, sit down with me. Geoff brought the newest Mortal Kombat game and I've won all of about two rounds," just as he finished his sentence, whoever was manning the other controller K.O.ed the shit out of him. Joel groaned, his head tipping back, "Fuck!" 

Ray spared a glance over at the group on the couch. Most all of the gang were staring at the TV screen. Michael had an excuse though, since the next round had started and he had the controller in his hands. Ryan, however, was looking straight at him. Ray couldn’t begin to guess what the look the blonde boy was giving him meant. He glared at him, trying to make a point silently before he sat on the bean bag, squishing next to Joel.

“I can’t even remember the last time I played this game, I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” Ray said, shrugging. Well, actually, he had played Mortal Kombat over at Kerry’s house for a few hours. There wasn’t much to it anyways, since winning was just a matter of technique. Ray considered his technique to be dodge heavy. As he watched Joel attempt to kick Michael’s ass via a ridiculous virtual fighting game, Ray came to the conclusion that Joel’s technique was special move heavy.

“Goddammit Joel! Stop doing that ice bullshit!” Michael shouted in anger as his character, Raiden, was frozen to the ground once again. A few moments later, Joel’s character, Sub Zero, had his skull smashed into the ground, resulting in another brutal K.O.

“You wanna try, Ray?” Joel asked, holding the controller out to him. Ray was in the middle of polishing off his first slice of pizza. He hesitated, glancing towards the stairs before he looked back at the controller. Ray nodded.

“Yeah, sure,” he mumbled around his mouthful of pizza. He wiped his fingers on his pants and took the controller. Soon, it was Raiden facing Sub Zero once again.

“You know any of the special moves?” Joel asked, looking over at him as he relaxed back against the bean bag. There was a snort from the couch and a mumbled ‘of course he knows’, but Joel didn’t seem to hear. On the other hand, Ray did happen to hear, and he shot a glare over at them in response.

_You know what else I know? You guys fuckin’ suck._

“Not really,” Ray lied, sounding sheepish. Joel smiled as he sat back up in attention. The older boy was admittedly confused but didn’t seem to mind all the same. He couldn’t win for shit but special moves happened to be his forte.

“Try this one. It’s X, down -”

“Visual learner, Joel,” Ray interrupted, taking a cautious look over at the boys on the couch. Now it was Ryan and Gavin looking over him and now, Joel. He could feel a tell-tale pressure at the back of his throat. They were the only two to actually pay attention to him since last Friday. When Joel’s fingers brushed against his, he was knocked out of his thoughts. Ray’s eyes widened a bit and a pink color tinged his cheeks. He had been expecting it but he was just beginning to notice the close proximity he was in to Joel. But with the way Gavin’s eyes narrowed, Ray wasn’t about to pull away.

Ray managed to win the first round with Joel’s help but was too distracted to not lose the next two that came with it. When Joel took it from his hands to hand it off to Jack, who was the closest one to them on the couch, he smiled slyly.

“Okay lovebirds, you want to cool it down?” Geoff suddenly blurted out, looking like someone had stepped in his pizza. Ray just rolled his eyes and Joel laughed, but Geoff remained visibly irritated. When Ray glanced over at them again, they all looked a bit miffed. Geoff, Michael, and Gavin even more so. Joel was confused, he knew for a fact that Ray was a step away from being in love with the gang. Yet here he was, flirting back with him. He brushed it off as some sort of odd plan and went along with it, but it didn’t hurt that Ray was cute too.

An hour later of small touches and smiles and Ray found himself pressed arm to arm with Joel. Both controllers were on the couch in the hands of Jack and Ryan but neither of them were paying very much attention to the game. Ray was eating another slice of pizza that unfortunately had gone cold while Joel told him a story about him, Adam, and the mess that was them trying to play Gary’s Mod.

“Jesus, and it’s just the most ridiculous thing. Adam rigged up all these fuckin’ tires on a mattress and the thing is writhing like a dying animal!” Joel exclaimed, throwing his hands up for emphasis. Ray laughed before he took another bite, a drop of pizza sauce dripping out of the corner of his mouth. The Puerto Rican didn’t seem to notice. He did notice however, that Joel trailed off, looking down at the pizza sauce smeared at the corner of his mouth.

“Ray, you got a little something…” Joel pointed the his mouth. Ray raised his eyebrows, swallowing the bite of pizza to lick at the wrong side of his mouth.

“Did I get it?” he asked. Joel shook his head, grinning.

“I - uh… wrong side… here, just let me.” The older boy swiped his thumb across the corner of his mouth, catching the pizza sauce on his finger. With no napkin close by, Joel shrugged and just licked it off. Ray blushed and looked up at him with wide eyes. The younger boy looked past Joel for just a moment and he almost couldn’t contain his smirk. Geoff and Michael were glaring daggers at them and Gavin just looked frustrated, like he didn’t know what to do. Ryan looked downright terrifying and Jack was huffing. They were jealous and apparently Joel noticed, because he quickly mumbled an excuse, got off the bean bag, and hurried up the stairs. Suddenly, Ray wasn’t feeling all that confident now that Joel was gone. He felt just as frustrated as Gavin looked.

“Was that really necessary?” Geoff snorted after a moment, folding his arms over his chest.

“What’s it to you?” Ray retorted, anger evident in his tone.

“Last Friday,” Geoff snapped.

“Last Friday was a joke to you!” That time when Ray replied, Geoff seemed to back off a little.

“Don’t say things like that.” Jack picked up right where Geoff left off.

“Why? Because it’s true?” Ray sneered, climbing up off of the bean bag.

“No, because you don’t understand.” Now it was Ryan who sounded exasperated. The comment did nothing but piss Ray off even more.

“What don’t I understand about this? That you fucking laughed and let me run off, sobbing? That no one came after me? That none of you tried?” Ray’s voice got progressively louder, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Ray, please, just…” Gavin pleaded, trailing off. For once, he was at a loss for words.

“Don’t ‘just’ me. I got up in front of you and you shot me down. You don’t understand,” Ray shook his head, wiping away tears.

“Ray, we didn’t understand until it was too late, okay? But you’re not listening to us either,” Ryan tried to reason.

“Don’t talk down to me,” Ray muttered weakly.

“I’m not trying to,” Ryan said. Ray shook his head, he was done listening to this. He turned and hurried up the stairs.

“Ray, wait!” Gavin yelled after him, but Ray just ignored him. Just as he stopped at the top of the stairs, he heard groans from downstairs. When he opened the door, he heard Ryan say,

“How do we tell him now?”

Ray bit his lip and rushed out, fleeing to his room just as Joel was exiting the bathroom. Just as Ray was about to close the door to his room, Joel quickly said,

“Ray?”

“Later,” the younger boy shook his head, trying to hold back his tears as he finally ducked into his room.


	7. Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It started with a rose. Ray was just trying to get his books for his first few classes and there it was, duct-taped to his locker.

It started with a rose. Ray was just trying to get his books for his first few classes and there it was, duct-taped to his locker. There was nothing really special about it. The tips of the petals were wrinkled and it smelled like generic Flower spray, but there was a rose taped to his locker and he didn't know why it was there. He ripped it off, shoved it in his backpack, and collected his books.

Next it was a note. When lunch time rolled around, he had gone back to his locker to get his own lunch. Ray had been excited to wolf down the cold slices of pizza he had shoved into his lunch box but his appetite seemed to disappear when he saw a piece of folded paper taped to his locker. When he opened it, it read:

_That rose is red,  
Link's tunic is green,  
You're more rare than a Latias  
And even cuter than a Sylveon_

Despite the crude dick scrawled in the corner of the paper, the note succeeded in making his cheeks flush a bright red. He had been folding the piece of paper back up when Caleb came running up to him, a grin on his face.

"Ray! Come on, get your lunch!" he said, bouncing on his heels. When Caleb took a closer look at Ray, who had been in the middle of shoving the paper in his pocket, his grin widened.

"You're blushing, like, hardcore," Caleb commented teasingly with narrowed eyes. "Did you get a love note?" Ray shoved him in the shoulder, grumbling insults before he quickly retrieved his lunch and trotted off with Caleb to the cafeteria.

The rest of his school day had been rather uneventful. He had been almost disappointed when he didn’t find anything else taped to his locker, and at the same time, he had been relieved. Ray wasn’t sure who the gifts had come from and the only guess he had hurt to think about and confused him to no end. The boys wouldn’t tape roses and terrible poetry to his locker, but then again, who else would? Fuck, he didn’t even want to try and figure out who was leaving him gifts. 

Soon the day was over and there he was again, staring down at his mess of a room with only two questions in mind: what the fuck and who the fuck? There was a large bouquet of red roses on the head of his bed, another piece of folded paper tucked in between the delicate flowers. That wasn’t really it, though. There were tons of petals strewn about his room alongside matching paper hearts. Even Master Chief, who had been knocked down once again, was covered in rose petals. Ray dropped his backpack and turned on his heels, hurrying out of his room.

“Mom?” he called out.

“In my room!” Ray followed her voice and burst into her room a moment later. She was in the middle of packing her bag quickly, hands fumbling things as she struggled to get everything together.

“Do you know who put those roses in my room?” Ray asked, pouting. His mom stopped for a moment, a soft smile on her face. She didn’t answer, she just finished packing her things. She picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder before she walked over to her youngest son.

“I think you know who,” she murmured as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. When she let go of him, Ray had to keep himself from whining.

“I have to go now, bub. You and Lucas have fun, I left money on the counter for food.” She gave him a small smile before hurrying out of the room. Ray sighed and walked out after her, dragging his feet. It only was a few minutes later when he heard her call out another goodbye before slipping out the door, closing it softly behind her. He watched the door for a few moments from his spot outside of her room, his stomach rolling. Why did she have to be gone all the time? He needed her here. Especially now, when all of these things that he didn't understand were happening. Ray folded his arms tightly, glaring down at the floor. The problem in his room was momentarily forgotten as he struggled to shove his selfishness back into his stomach. Ray shouldn't be thinking like that, not when she was the only source of income for their family apart from the odd jobs Lucas could pick up.

"Ray?" The voice of said brother knocked him out of his thoughts. Ray looked up to see Lucas emerging from his room.

"Yeah?" he replied shakily, trying to seem as nonchalant as he could.

"She wants to be here with us as much as you want it, you know that right?" Lucas said quietly. Ray rarely had moments like this with his brother.

"I know," he muttered, looking away.

"Ray - augh, come here before I change my mind," Lucas grumbled, a small smile on his face as he held an arm out to his little brother. Ray trudged over to Lucas but didn't hesitate to take the hug, sighing into the warmth of his brother’s arms. It was short-lived but comforting none the less. Ray pulled away a moment later, feeling somewhat better.

"Alright, get out of here. The gang'll be over in a few hours, I'll make sure one of them comes up to get you before I leave," Lucas grinned, ruffling his hair. Ray snorted but grinned back before he retreated back to his room. He closed the door behind him, stepping over rose petals to get to his bed. Ray climbed on top of it, grabbing the bouquet gently. He brought the flowers up to his nose and breathed in deeply. Ray reveled in the sweet smell as silky petals brushed against his nose. He loved roses and he hoped that whoever had gotten them for him knew that. Had he ever told the gang he loved roses?

Ray shook his head quickly, as if to get rid of the thought. He didn't need to get his hopes up. He plucked the paper from between the flowers before setting down the bouquet.

"Hey Master Chief, did you see who dropped all this shit in my room?" Ray asked the petal-covered figurine. He had expected to be answered with silence but he still sighed.

"Of course not, asshole," he muttered as he unfolded the paper. It was more poems.

_Roses can be red  
Diamonds are blue  
No ones hotter than a Kenway  
Except for you_

Okay, that one got a small laugh out of him. For a moment, he wondered which one of the boys wrote it before reading the other two.

_Roses are red_  
Master Chief is badass  
You're so amazing  
Even the dovahkiin couldn't top you

_Your roses are red_  
Portals can be blue  
You glow even brighter  
Than the Mojave Wasteland 

By the time Ray finished reading the poems, he could feel the heat already rising in his cheeks, knowing he must be blushing pretty badly. He set the paper next to Master Chief and grabbed the bouquet before he pulled himself onto his feet. Ray crept to his door and peeked out. There was no sign of Lucas so he hurried out of the room towards the kitchen. He set the bouquet down on the table and he began rifling through the cabinets. Where the hell were the vases?

"Jesus, whose flowers are these?" Lucas snorted a laugh as he walked into the kitchen. Ray practically jumped up into the cabinet he had been searching through.

"None of your business!" Ray snapped, turning back to glare at Lucas.

"Are they... yours?" A grin spread across Lucas's face slowly. Ray could feel his cheeks heating up yet again.

"Shut up," Ray grumbled, folding his arms.

"Who gave them to you?"

"I don't know. They were in my room when I got home," Ray shrugged. He left out the part with the poems and the petals, no need to give his brother more material to tease him with.

"Huh... well, vases are in the other cabinet," Lucas said, smirking.

"I knew that," Ray muttered, turning back around to close the cabinet and begin looking through the other one. He found a glass vase a moment later.

"You have any clue who gave you the flowers?" Lucas asked, taking a seat at the table.

"No, I asked mom if she knew who put them in my room and she wouldn't tell me," Ray answered as he began filling the vase with water.

"Of course," Lucas chuckled, "Man, I just want to know who cut class to give you flowers." Ray rolled his eyes as he carried the vase to the table. He grabbed the bouquet gently and tucked it into the vase. He smiled, the roses looked beautiful. Ray picked up the vase and rested it in the crook of his arm.

"Hey, you want pizza or Chinese takeout?" Lucas asked as he rose out of his seat.

"Uh... chinese, we had pizza last Friday," Ray replied as he started to walk out of the kitchen and back to his room. He slipped inside of his room and closed the door behind him with his foot. Right, petals and paper hearts... he told himself he’d clean it up later. Ray set the vase next to Master Chief, careful to gently brush away any petals so he didn't crush them. For a third Friday in a row, his heart was hammering in his chest at the mere thought of the gang. As he grabbed his 3DS off of his nightstand and climbed onto the bed, he wondered if and why the boys would get him flowers and write him little poems. They didn't like him like that, not the way he liked them. Or did they? Ray groaned in frustration and powered up his handheld, thinking that maybe he could just ignore it until he got a chance to talk to them. With the way the sweet smell of roses hung in the air around him, he doubted he could keep his mind off of it for very long.

It was a few slow hours until Ray heard knocking from the front door. He almost jumped out of bed to go answer it but he just forced himself to burrow further into his blankets instead. He didn't want to seem too eager and besides, he never answered the door, it was always Lucas. He heard the crew run down the hall, talking excitedly about some new game one of them had brought. None of them stopped to knock on his door and Ray couldn't tell if he was thankful or not.

Another hour later, there was a loud knock on his door so Ray slipped out of bed and padded over to it. When he opened it, he was rather surprised to see Michael standing on the other side.

"Lucas just left, told me to come get you. Come on, let's head downstairs. Jack brought Black Flag and we're taking turns," Michael said with a grin. He looked past Ray into his room and his grin morphed into a smirk. "Nice room, who got you the flowers?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Ray snorted, folding his arms. He noticed Michael's foot was bouncing impatiently. Was he... nervous? He didn't ask and he didn't receive an answer, and Michael just turned and headed down the hall like he expected Ray to follow. The Puerto Rican did, his breath stuttering. Were they going to ignore the last two Fridays like nothing happened? 

They quickly got down to the den and Ray momentarily found himself in shock. He stared at the boys who all stood in a line in front of the TV, each holding a single rose. Michael picked up his own flower that had been resting on the couch's armchair and took his place next to Gavin. Black Flag had been put on pause.

"What’s going on?" Ray finally spoke, eyes wide.

"We fucked up two Fridays in a row. We're aiming to not fuck this one up too," Geoff said, nodding firmly. Ryan spoke next.

"First of all, we're sorry for laughing at you."

"Yeah, that was terrible. We're bloody morons, Ray," Gavin offered, a small smile on his face.

"Jesus, uh, it's fine. Apology accepted. I don't know if you had to get me all these roses just apologize though," Ray chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"That's not it." Jack couldn't help but laugh, grinning at the younger boy. A blush bloomed over Ray's cheeks, his stomach twisting in anticipation.

"Huh?" _Very eloquent, me, good job._

"We... Christ, we feel the same way. We just never expected you to like us, all of us, back," Geoff twirled the rose in his fingers as if to keep his nervousness at bay. Ray had gone silent again, his heart shooting up into the ceiling while his stomach fluttered violently.

"But… why?" Ray realized that in this very important moment, he could have at least tried to form more complex sentences, but his mind was reeling with this possibility.

"Why?" Michael repeated, grinning, "Come on Ray, why not?"

"Well, Lucas, for one," Ray muttered, shaking his head.

"We talked to your mom earlier, we don't need to worry about Lucas, at least for right now," Ryan said softly.

"Come here.” Michael beckoned to Ray with his free hand. Ray took quiet, hesitant steps towards the curly-haired boy. Michael handed Ray the rose before he gently cupped the younger boy’s face with his hands.

“Is this alright?” he murmured, a slight smile on his lips. Ray would’ve screamed at him to just go for it already if he hadn’t lost his voice in the few steps it took to get to Michael. Instead, he nodded. Michael leaned down and pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss. Ray’s bottom lip found itself captured between Michael’s. Jesus, his lips were soft. The kiss was over a moment later and just before Michael pulled away, he pressed another kiss to the corner of Ray’s mouth. He finally let go of Ray and gently pushed him over to Gavin.

“Cheeky bastard, ain’t he?” the Brit chuckled as he handed Ray his rose. Ray gripped the two roses tightly as Gavin lightly placed his hands on either side of Ray’s neck, his thumbs brushing against his jawline.

“Ray, you all good?” Once again, Ray nodded. Gavin leaned forward, tilting his head a bit to the side and brushed their lips together. Ray could feel his smile as their lips were pressed together. Ray felt like the only thing anchoring him to the ground were these five boys. He still couldn’t believe what was happening but by God, did he love it. When Gavin pulled away, the tips of their noses bumped together. Ray smiled and Gavin could have sworn it was the sweetest sight he’s ever seen.

Ryan grabbed Ray’s free hand and tugged him over, wrapping an arm around his waist to catch him when he stumbled. He handed his rose to Ray and leaned in just so their breaths were mingling.

“Yes?” Ryan asked. Ray attempted to reply, but only managed a quiet whine. Ryan humored him with a kiss. Their lips slid together and Ray swore he felt the warmth of Ryan’s tongue as it swept across his bottom lip. This was the closest to sensual Ray had ever felt and when Ryan pulled away, he whined again. His already flushed cheeks darkened as Ryan pressed another kiss to his forehead and gave him a soft push towards Jack.

Ray couldn’t help but grin when he saw the tips of Jack’s cheeks turn pink. The older boy handed him his rose and reached up to tenderly grab Ray’s chin between his pointer finger and his thumb. Ray nodded before Jack could say anything and leaned up slightly. The moment their lips met, Ray tasted peppermint. Ray smiled and when Jack pulled away, he pouted. Jack rolled his eyes slightly and with a grin, gave him another chaste kiss.

With four roses in hand, he finally came to Geoff who was looking at him with a look that had Ray’s fingers trembling. He took in shaky breath and accepted Geoff’s rose when he handed it to him. Ray took a step forward and Geoff put a gentle hand on his hip to pull him forward. Geoff pressed their lips together and Christ, Ray could swear he felt… complete now. Jesus, that was the cliche thing he had thought up that night but he couldn’t describe it any other way. The kiss ended a moment later and even when he took a step back from Geoff, his lips were still tingling from all the intimacy they had encountered. His heart was hammering and he managed a soft tone as he said,

“So five is now a six...” The boys grinned and nodded. Michael added in teasingly,

“Yeah, I mean YOLO, right?”


	8. The Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray was in euphoria. Hell, he was still riding out the shock wave of finally dating his five crushes and it had already been a few weeks since that Friday.

Ray was in euphoria. Hell, he was still riding out the shock wave of finally dating his five crushes and it had already been a few weeks since that Friday. He finally understood why Miles would gush about Arryn whenever he had the chance or why he would catch Joel’s hand tenderly brushing against Adam’s in study hall when they thought no one was looking.

He understood, at least for once in his life, just how good it was to be the center of someone’s affection. Or, in Ray’s case, five separate someones. Ray personally thought that they were crazy, but he didn’t mind the touches and smiles they’d share in school. He definitely didn’t mind when he would pass Ryan in the hallway and the older boy would reach out and let his fingertips graze Ray’s hip. Or that Michael would pass him little videogame-themed poems whenever he could during the period where he TA’d for Ray’s English class. Not to mention that it seemed like Gavin was trying to pass by his various classes as many times as he could just to jump and dance outside until he could catch Ray’s attention and make him laugh.

The first few days had been a bit awkward, to say the least. The rest of that Friday had gone smoothly considering they just piled onto the couch, watched a movie, and parted reluctantly when they heard Lucas upstairs. Saturday had been a strike of luck when Lucas left again to take Cath on a date, but that had been where his luck stopped. Ray didn’t like to think about it too much, even though Jack said it was fine. Ray knows he straight-up slobbered in Jack’s mouth when he got caught up in kissing him. He refused kisses on the basis of a grumpily mumbled statement:

“I kiss like a fuckin’ dog,”

The boys managed to convince him that he was fine just a few days later.

Friday, Ray found, was his favorite day of the week, especially after Lucas would leave to go visit Cath. Geoff seemed to forget that personal space existed, spending as much time as he could tangled up with Ray in one way or another. In fact, they all seemed to forget. When Ray asked about it, Geoff answered for them all and said,

“We’re making up for lost time.”

That was something Ray wasn’t about to argue with, not that he was having a problem with it in the first place.

Ray discovered that Jack was the least bold about his affection, and instead tucked it into the little things he’d do. The morning after they asked him out, Ray went to go clean up his room. He didn’t expect any of the boys to help him, to be honest. Whether they were dating or not, the gang looked too relaxed to move a muscle so Ray just pulled himself off of the couch with a sigh and headed for the stairs. Jack got a moment later and followed after him, telling him to wait for him just as Ray was getting to the top of the stairs. They spent the next hour plucking petals and hearts off of his floor while they talked and laughed about the idiotic stories they told each other. Jack was always the one to text him good morning or good night. He’d ask him if he was okay even if Ray was acting fine. Ray wondered if he should’ve felt like Jack was keeping tabs on him but he couldn’t be find it in him to be bothered by it. He was glad someone was there to make sure he didn’t feel alone. In his house, it wasn’t hard to feel cut off. His mother loved him but she was gone so often. His brother looked after him but that didn’t stop him from living a life of his own. His dad was gone but he still haunted Ray. Having the house to himself most nights only amplified the emptiness. He had Caleb, Kerry, and Miles, but now he had the boys too.

It seemed like Gavin was always trying to get him to smile. Ray didn’t think he’d ever experienced having such sore cheeks until now. Gavin would dance, sing, and yell until Ray was smiling from ear to ear. Even if Gavin wasn’t actively trying to make him smile, Ray couldn’t stop anyways. He was the clumsiest person Ray had ever seen. Gavin practically lived on one foot at a time and always managed to trip over it. It wasn’t even just his clumsiness that made Ray grin, it was his stupid jokes and his odd questions too. It was the way Gavin’s eyes would light up when he’d talk about filmmaking and slowmotion, that made Ray forget that it was possible to frown sometimes.

Michael could barely keep his hands off of Ray. It wasn’t only that he loved to pull Ray into his arms and kiss him until he was breathless, he loved just touching him. On game night when they were actually gaming, Michael would sit next to Ray and slip his fingers under the hem of the younger boy’s shirt to brush his fingers against his skin. If Ray wasn’t the one with the controller in his hands, Michael would grab one of his hands with both of his and draw meaningless patterns on his palm with his fingertips. Or if they were at school, Michael would always find some reason to stand by Ray in their English class so press his palm against his shoulder or take the paper from Ray’s hands so he could drag his fingers over his. Ray didn’t mind at all, in fact, he tried to subtly encourage it. The way that Michael would slyly smile over at him when Ray nudged him told Ray that it wasn’t as subtle as he thought, but neither cared.

Ryan smelled like heaven. Ray discovered this when he was curled up next to Ryan with his head rested on his shoulder. They had been downstairs per usual with Gavin and Michael trying to get some odd achievement in Dishonored. They weren’t doing quite well and Ray had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. He inhaled the smell of spice, cloves, and something clean that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Ray then promptly buried his face into Ryan’s neck, muffling his exclaims of,

“You smell as good as the ending to Bioshock Infinite, oh my fucking god.”

“That’s what they all say, one way or another,” Ryan laughed. Gavin and Michael hummed in agreement. Geoff and Jack were too wrapped up in each other to notice. Ray had expected at least one of them to tell him that he was weird for staying smushed up against Ryan all night to smell him. None of them even glanced at him twice, at least not for that reason.

Geoff radiated comfort to the point where Ray was surprised he could restrain himself from plastering himself to his side constantly. He just seemed so solid and strong, like Ray could lean on him as heavily as he needed to and Geoff wouldn’t collapse. Ray felt like he could fall into Geoff’s arms whenever he needed and Geoff would hold him first and ask questions later. In the passing weeks that Ray had been together with the five, it seemed like they all felt the same. Ray had seen Geoff pull Ryan into his arms the moment he heard that Ryan hadn’t gotten the part in the play he had worked so hard for. Ryan had practically melted into the touch. Hell, Ray had seen Geoff talk Michael down from a terrible mood before the curly-haired boy could do something stupid like start a fight. Ray wondered when and why he would end up in those arms, crying. He wondered about it a lot, especially the nights when the boys were gone and he was alone.

Tonight, however, was not one of those nights. It was game night again and Lucas had left early to take Cath out on a date. He was spending a lot more time with her nowadays. It had been a few hours since he left, and Ray wasn’t sure what time he would be home.

Ray was curled up against Michael’s side with the older boy’s arm around his hip. His fingers had found their way under Ray’s shirt again and were drawing circles on his skin. Ryan was on the other side of Michael and had his arm held across Michael’s stomach to hold Ray’s hand. Gavin and Geoff were avidly discussing whether or not the storyline of Halo had died off after Halo 3 on the other side of the couch, next to Ray. Jack was going through Netflix’s movies, looking for something decent.

"I love Halo 4 but I just feel like they’re dragging it out," Geoff shrugged, wrapping his arms around Gavin’s stomach.

"Dragging it out? That was the point of the storyline! Master Chief was trying to drag out his time with Cortana," Gavin protested, putting his hands on Geoff’s forearms.

"You’ve been arguing about this for at least an hour now," Ray mumbled as he stretched out his foot to bump it into Geoff’s leg.

"I’m just saying that the Halo storyline was able to go on after Halo 3," Gavin defended.

"Yeah, we know," Ryan chuckled. Geoff and Gavin’s argument then died down into a discussion about the Prometheans. As Jack picked out some odd indie movie, Ryan tugged on Ray’s hand. Ray looked over at him, eyebrows raised.

"Closer," Ryan grinned over at him. Ray glanced up at Michael, who just smirked and shrugged. The younger boy went to slide off of the couch but Ryan tugged on his hand again. Ray finally got what Ryan meant. His eyes widened a bit and he pulled himself back against Michael. As he began climbing into his lap, he heard a door slam upstairs. Ray jumped, gasping quietly. Michael laughed and leaned forward to press a kiss to corner of Ray’s mouth. Ray blushed, quickly letting go of Ryan’s hand before he slid off of Michael’s lap to sit at a respectable distance. There were footsteps on the stairs a moment later.

“Hey assholes, I’m back and fuckin’ tired so I’m going to go sleep. Keep it down or I’m gonna fuckin’… kick you out of the house or something,” Lucas said as he stepped down from the stairs, yawning.

“Good night, princess!” Geoff cooed teasingly.

“Fuck off,” Lucas snorted.

“Night, Lucas,” Ray said quietly, looking back at him. Lucas stopped for a moment, looking back at his little brother. He cracked a small smile and rolled his eyes before replying,

“Night, Ray.”

Lucas headed back up the stairs, taking two at a time despite his exhausted state. The moment Ray heard the door close upstairs, he relaxed against the couch. Michael gently grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together.

They were halfway through the movie when it got to the point where Ray could barely keep his eyes open. When he yawned twice in a row, he finally sighed, let go of Michael’s hand and pulled himself off of the couch.

“I’m gonna go to bed, m’tired,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Here, I’ll take you up,” Jack murmured as he climbed off of the couch after Ray.

“I’ll head up too.” Ryan smiled at the two before getting up and walking with them to the stairs.

“Hang on,” Michael groaned, stretching out across the couch. He slid off of the couch and hurried after the others, dragging his feet. Gavin and Geoff remained on the couch considering they were already asleep, tangled up in each other.

They managed to get up the stairs pretty quickly, apart from Ray tripping and Jack having to catch him before he tumbled down the stairs. When they got to the door to Ray’s room, Michael looked back to check on Lucas’s door. It was closed and Lucas had to be asleep already. Michael turned back around and grinned at Ray, confident that they wouldn’t be interrupted by a certain big brother. Ray leaned against his door and looked at the other three, barely concealing his smile.

“So… goodnight, I guess,” the younger boy said bashfully, turning the door knob slowly. Ryan rolled his eyes and stepped forward, cupping Ray’s cheek. He pressed their lips together for a chaste kiss before whispering,

“Night, Ray.”

When Ryan stepped away, Michael took his place. The older boy smiled and leaned down. When their lips were about to brush, he murmured,

“Goodnight, Ray.”

Michael kissed him twice; once on the mouth, another on the corner of it. He then backed up to take his place next to Ryan. Jack was the last to step up. He set a gentle hand on Ray’s hip and quietly said,

“Sleep tight, Ray.”

Before Jack stepped away as well he gave Ray another good night kiss. By the time they were done, Ray was blushing madly. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to them kissing and touching him. Ray gave them a slight nod and watched them go before retreating into his room. As he closed his door, he didn’t quite manage to see that Lucas’s door had been cracked open ever so slightly, or that his brother’s eyes were wide and his mouth ajar in shock.


	9. Brothers

When Ray woke up, the boys were gone. He didn’t have to leave his room to notice the absence of yelling and laughing from some distant place in the house. When he checked his phone, it told him 12:40 pm. It was a little late for him to be waking up, he would admit that, but it was odd that the gang was gone already. As he went to send a text to one of them, a little yellow envelope icon on his phone caught his eye. It was a text from his mom. A wide grin spread across his face but before he could open it, there was a knock on his door. Ray groaned quietly before he called out,

"Hang on!"

He slid out of bed and pulled on his pajama pants. Well, technically, they weren’t his pajama pants. They were Ryan’s. He had left them at Ray’s one night and Ray hadn’t gotten around to giving them back. Another knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts and he rolled his eyes. Ray padded to the door and opened it slightly to peek out. Lucas stood outside his door, arms folded.

“Can I help you?” Ray asked.

“Open the door, asshole,” Lucas sighed, sounding frustrated.

“Jesus, fine,” he muttered as he backed away and pulled the door open farther. Lucas pushed in passed him, knocking into his shoulder. Ray glared at his older brother and waited for him to say something. There were a few moments of silence before Lucas finally spoke.

“So, the boys went home early. ‘Cause, uh… Mom’s supposed to be home later,” Lucas said, wincing slightly. Ray’s face lit up and he grinned, bouncing on his heels for a moment. When he opened his mouth to speak, Lucas interrupted him to blurt out,

“We need to talk.”

Ray’s stomach took an unpleasant dive into the ground. His muscles tensed and a cold feeling bloomed in the back of his neck. He tried to look confused or clueless, but he was sure with the way his jaw clenched that all he managed was a grimace.

“Alright,” Ray replied, struggling to sound nonchalant. Lucas watched his little brother for a moment before he began talking, his voice quiet, almost cautious in a sense.

“Listen, I know, alright? I know and I’m not okay with it.”

The room became so silent, Ray swore he could hear his lungs practically implode in fear.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he defended weakly.

“Yes, you fucking do!” his brother suddenly snapped, “I’m not fucking around, I know you’re in the gang’s goddamn… weird, orgy relationship!”

A quiet gasp wrenched its way out of Ray’s and all he could do was stare at his brother in shock. It took a brief moment for a well of his own frustration to build up in his throat and spill out of his mouth.

“It’s not some weird orgy, you insensitive prick!” Ray shouted, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.

“Quite frankly, I don’t actually give a shit what it is,” Lucas snorted, glaring at Ray, “I was fine with it before but not now, not with them mackin’ on my little fuckin’ brother.”

“Fuck you! You can’t tell me what to do, you’re not mom!” Ray yelled, glaring right back at him.

“Yeah, I fuckin’ can. I’m your older brother, dipshit, and if you haven’t noticed, mom’s not around. What I say goes and I’m saying you can’t fucking see them anymore.” At this point, Lucas was absolutely livid.

“I don’t care what you fucking say, I can see them if I want,” Ray choked out angrily, tears welling up in his eyes.

“If I hear about you going to see them or them coming over here, you don’t want to know what I’ll fuckin’ do,” Lucas snapped, undetered by the tears that began to race down Ray’s cheeks. Ray couldn’t reply, he was too busy trying to keep his oncoming sobs at bay.

“I’m leaving in an hour to go see Cath. I’m serious, Ray. If I even think you fuckin’ saw them, you’re gonna be in deep shit.” Lucas pointed at Ray, aiming to cement the threat before he turned and walked out of Ray’s room. Just as the door closed behind him, anger seeped out of Ray’s pores. His mind shouted at him to say anything and when Ray suddenly found his voice, he screamed the worst insult he could think of.

“Alright, dad!”

The footsteps in the hall slowed to a stop. For a moment, Ray was afraid Lucas was going to come back. The footsteps started back up again and a second later, Ray heard a door down the hall slam shut. That’s when the dam broke. Ray turned and stumbled to his bed. He was already sobbing when he collapsed onto it, burying his face in his pillow. Why did his brother have to ruin everything for him?

When he could breathe without breaking down into a new round of tears, he pulled off his pajama pants and crawled under his covers with them bundled up in his arms. Ray pressed his face to the worn out, flannel cloth and just closed his eyes. He couldn’t think of anything better to do.

He woke up an hour later and true to his word, Lucas was gone. Ray dragged himself to the kitchen but the pit in his stomach wasn’t from hunger, so he just grabbed a glass of water and made his way downstairs. He turned on the TV and sank low into the couch to watch whatever channel had been left on. Ray didn’t even move to change it when he realized America’s Next Top Model was what he was watching.

Ray went back upstairs to the kitchen when dinner time swung around. When he was met with silence, he realized neither Lucas nor his mom had gotten home yet. He just sighed and left to go check his phone. Excluding the one he forgot to check that morning, he had one new message. There was one from Lucas and one from his mom. He opened Lucas’s first, despite the resentment boiling in his stomach.

**From: no luca no  
To: rayman  
Nov Sat 9, 5:40 pm**  
 _im spending the night at caths. no gang or else!_

Ray wasn’t surprised at Lucas’s message nor concerned about it. His brother couldn’t scare him when he wasn’t even here. He opened his mom’s message next, excited to see if it was her telling him when she’d be home.

**From: matriarch narvaez**  
To: rayman  
Nov Sat 9, 10:27 am  
 _hey bub, im coming home late this weekend. i might not even be back until you get home from school on monday. maybe we could do something during the week if i have some free time? i love you bubby! have a fun weekend!_

Ray’s excitement dissolved into bitter disappointment. Lucas had lied to get the boys to leave. He had lied about the one thing he knew would get Ray off of his back about them leaving early. Ray let out a stuttering breath and tried to keep his tears at bay. He let his phone slide out of his hand and onto the floor before climbing onto his bed, trying not to listen to the deafening silence that rang in his ears.

Somewhere around 9:00, he finally worked up an appetite and ate a bagel. He was heading for his room to sleep but stopped as soon as he passed his mom’s door. Ray took a few moments to just stand there and decide. No one, especially not his mom, would be home for the night, except him. He was already opening the door to her room before he made a conscious decision. Ray dragged himself to the bed, exhaustion pulling at his limbs despite the early bedtime. He turned on the radio on her nightstand and slid into her bed. He pulled the covers around himself and closed his eyes. Ray was asleep in a matter of minutes.

The week that followed passed by slowly, even as he gradually built up enough courage to talk to his boys during it. He told them that Lucas knew on Monday before school and kept in all the gritty details of their fight. They understood and backed off, but only to keep Ray from getting in trouble. Ryan continued to give him passing touches and Michael slipped him even more poetry, but they didn’t hang around his classes at the end of each period or sneak kisses with him when they were certain no one was watching.

When Friday came around, Ray had a plan; he was going to hang out with the gang who, instead of at Ray’s, was having their game night at Gavin’s. The moment he had gotten home, he had texted Geoff about it. He would tell Lucas that he was going to Caleb’s house, which was down a few streets, for the weekend and that he would need to walk because Caleb’s parents were out for the night. Ray would then start walking. When he was a safe distance from his house, Geoff, being the only one with his own car, would come pick up him. They would go back to Gavin’s, Ray would spend the night, and Geoff would drive him back to Caleb’s on Saturday so Ray could actually hang out with him for the rest of the weekend. It was a foolproof plan, really.

Geoff, of course, agreed to the plan. Caleb also agreed when Ray remembered to text him and ask if he could come over on Saturday. Now all Ray needed to do was lie to his brother. That brother in question, he hadn’t spoken to at all during the week. His mom had asked about it on Thursday and Ray had told her about the fight, that time leaving out the gritty details. She had told him that she’d talk to Lucas about it but since Lucas hadn’t apologized for anything yet, Ray kind of doubted she had gotten the chance to before she had to leave for the weekend.

Even with the rebellious courage he had built up during the week, Ray still found himself pacing in his room as he tried to calm himself down.

“Master Chief, you wouldn’t happen to know of a less stressful way to lie to someone, do you?” he asked to the figurine that stood proud on his night stand. He was met with an expected silence.

“No? Of course not, you blow shit up and kill armies for Christ’s sake,” Ray muttered to himself, kicking a shirt out of his way. Each time he glanced up at the door, the nervous pit in his stomach stirred uneasily.

“Come on, Ray, you got this. Get pumped, come on,” he whispered as he finally forced himself to stare at the door and stop pacing. Ray jumped in place for a moment, shaking his hands as he repeated ‘get pumped’ in his mind. It worked slightly, coaxing him enough to get him to the door. When he reached for the handle, there was a sudden knock on his door. Ray let out a shrill yelp in surprise, flinching so hard he stumbled backwards. There was muffled laughter from the other side of the door for a brief moment.

“Ray? You okay in there?” Lucas’s amused voice met Ray’s ears and the younger Puerto Rican groaned internally.

“What do you want?” Ray snapped, quite obviously still angry with Lucas.

“Can we talk?” Lucas asked, the playful tone in his voice gone.

“What, are you going to yell at me for talking to Joel now?” Ray scoffed with narrowed eyes. He could hear Lucas groan outside his door.

“Ray, come on, please?” his older brother pleaded.

“Fine,” Ray grumbled, uncaring if Lucas heard him or not. The door to his room opened slowly, signaling to Ray that Lucas had certainly heard him. His older brother shuffled in, looking uncomfortable. Ray smirked, folding his arms. His mom must’ve gotten that chance to have a chat with Lucas. After a few moments of silence, Ray said,

“Are you going to talk or what?”

“You’re not making this easy,” Lucas said, sighing in frustration.

“And you’re the one to talk about someone making something harder for someone else.”

“Listen, I know you don’t understand, alright? To you, I’m just being a giant fuckin’ twat about your relationship and I need to calm down.” When Ray hummed in agreement, Lucas shot him a glare.

“See?” Lucas said in exasperation, “Ray - I… I’m sorry for what I said last week. I’ve been thinking about it and I know I went too far with some shit. You have to understand though, I’m just trying to look out for you. At this point, I honestly don’t care that you’re dating my friends. I care that you’re dating five older boys. People usually ease themselves into dating, you know? Ugh, Ray, come on, sit down.” He pushed Ray towards the bed gently, padding over to it to take a seat on the edge. Ray sat on the other side of the bed, watching his older brother warily.

“You’re my little brother, yeah? That makes me the big brother. I mean come on, looking out for you is in the job description. Relationships… relationships are hard, especially the ones you find in high school.” With each word, it was like Lucas deflated just a little bit. He looked older in all honesty. The ball of anger that Ray had been nursing was beginning to crumble.

“Do you know how hard it is to keep a relationship going? That’s with one person, I can’t even imagine it with five people. You know me and Cath? Oh man, me and Cath… we’re not doing so well. Jesus, it feels like I’m holding onto a thread. I’m doing everything I can to keep us going and I don’t even know if I’m doing the right thing anymore. It’s hard enough to leave behind one person you love. Just imagine trying to leave five. I’m trying to protect you, Ray, but I don’t even know if I’m doing the right thing for you anymore either.” When Lucas looked up at him with a defeated look on his face, Ray’s breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t stop himself when he practically threw himself at his brother, wrapping his arms around a rather shocked Lucas.

“I should’ve never called you dad, I’m sorry,” he blubbered into Lucas’s neck, holding onto him tightly.

“S’alright, you didn’t mean it,” Lucas murmured. He wrapped his arms around Ray as well and rubbed his back soothingly. They stayed like that for a good few moments until Ray let go of his brother and sat down next to him.

“What does this mean for me and them?” Ray asked quietly, hesitantly.

“I realized that I can’t keep you away from them. Whether what you’re doing is a mistake or not, I have to let you go. I’ll back off, I swear. Just don’t like make out in front of me, alright?” Lucas said, cracking a small smile. Ray rolled his eyes and shoved his brother’s shoulder, but not before saying thank you.

“So we’re all good?” Lucas asked.

“We’re good,” Ray confirmed, nodding his head. When Lucas got up to leave, Ray finally remembered what he had wanted to talk to him about in the first place.

“Lucas, I was going to hang out with them today and then spend the weekend at Caleb’s!” he blurted out, a blush coating his cheeks pink. Lucas stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder at Ray before turning to face him.

“I’m fine with you going to Caleb’s but do you mean to tell me that you had a date with them before we had this talk?” Lucas said, clearly exasperated.

“Yeah?” Ray admitted sheepishly.

“Goddammit Ray… alright, tell them to come pick you up here, though. I want to talk them.”

“Please don’t give them the ‘talk’ or whatever,” Ray whined.

“No promises.” Lucas grinned before turning and walking out of his room. Ray groaned, flopping back against his bed. A few moments later, he picked up his phone and called Geoff to tell him the good news (and to warn him about Lucas’s impending talk). 

_“Hey Ray, you ready to get picked up?”_

“Definitely, but turns out you can just pick me up at my house.”

_“Oh whoa, no shit? Did your mom like scare the dicks out of Lucas or something?”_

“I actually don’t know but we just talked about it. He said he couldn’t like stop me from seeing you guys. I’m free to date you guys now, no more secrets.”

_“What a fuckin’ softie. That’s actually pretty fuckin’ cool though, I gotta admit.”_

“Yeah. Okay, before you come though, I have to tell you something.”

_“What is it?”_

“Lucas is gonna give you one of those kinds of talks when you get here.”

The other end of the line was filled with laughter. Ray grinned, listening to Geoff crack up before the older boy managed to calm down.

_“Shit, really?”_

“Most likely, yeah.”

_“That’s funny as dicks. Fuck, we should just all go.”_

“Am I supposed to sit in somebody’s lap in the car ride then?”

_“If you want.”_

Ray blushed and went silent as he spent a few moments calming himself down that time.

“I’ll see you in like five minutes then.”

_“Definitely. See ya’, Ray.”_

“Bye, Geoffers.”

_“You fucker…”_

Before the line went dead, Ray could hear Geoff yelling:

_“Alright, shitheads, let’s go.”_


	10. 1997 Ford Escort Wagon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten minutes later, Geoff’s shitty, blue 1997 Ford Escort Wagon pulled up to Ray’s house, sputtering to a stop.

Ten minutes later, Geoff's shitty, blue 1997 Ford Escort Wagon pulled up to Ray's house, sputtering to a stop. Ray had to restrain himself from sprinting outside to see them. Through the window in his room, he could see them all as they stepped out of the car. Or in Gavin's case, quite literally slipped out of the car. Ray giggled quietly and bounced on the balls of his feet. His stomach fluttered wildly, rising up in his chest and diving back down erratically. As he emerged from his room, the doorbell rang. Ray's breath stuttered. Jesus Christ, he couldn't understand why he was so nervous all of a sudden. He'd been anticipating hanging out with them since he got home. Ray hadn't been anxious about it then, yet now, his fingers trembled as he wrapped them around the door knob and opened the door.

Geoff's face greeted him first, a wide smile on the older boy's face. Clearly, Ray wasn't the only one excited to see his boyfriend. Just as Geoff opened his mouth to say hello, Gavin shoved his way through the group and planted himself in front of Ray.

"X-Ray!" he said, smiling.

"Hey Vav," Ray replied, looking away shyly. He could barely stand to look at Gavin when he had that look in his eye, like Ray, for the moment, was the center of his world. It made his heart turn inside out. He let out a surprised 'oof' when Gavin pulled him into his arms and hugged him tightly. Gavin let go of him a moment later, but not before pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. Geoff pushed him away, rolling his eyes.

"Hey Ray," Geoff murmured, grabbing his hand to pull him closer. Ray grinned and Geoff leaned down to press a kiss to his lips, despite the impending danger of a certain older brother finally coming to the door.

As if summoned by the affection being given to his little brother, Lucas came strolling up to the door.

"Hey assholes," he shouted, grinning. Ray lurched away from Geoff with a gasp, his cheeks flushed. He smiled sheepishly, rubbing his arm.

"Everybody inside, we need to have a little talk," Lucas said as he stepped back to give them room in the doorway.

"This is fuckin' ridiculous," Geoff snickered as he walked in, dodging the fist Lucas swung his way.

When everyone was inside and in the living room, sitting on the couch or just mulling about, Lucas stood at the front of the room.

“Asses on the couch!” he called out. Gavin and Michael, who were both eager to get going, grumbled as they plopped down onto the couch.

“Alright, so I recently discovered that my little brother is dating you five fucks. Before I say anything else, I want you all to know that if you hurt him, you’re going to regret being born. I mean it. I will legitimately make you regret ever being conceived. We’ve been friends since what, seventh grade? I’ve been living with this asshole,” Lucas pointed a finger at Ray, “for sixteen entire fucking years. Not even including the fact that he’s my little brother, he still wins with seniority. Long story short, don’t hurt him,” Lucas said, his voice firm and rather intimidating. Ray’s face was already beginning to flush and he knew it was all downhill from here.

“Secondly! Do not, under any circumstances, kiss my brother in front of me. Keep it in your pants, I don’t want to see that shit. Actually? Don’t do anything to my brother in front of me. Game nights will continue to be six friends and one friend’s annoying little brother. When I’m gone, I don’t care as long as I never hear about it.” As if to cement his point, he glared at the boys. When he opened his mouth to speak, a blushing Ray quickly interrupted him.

“I think you got your point across, can we leave now?” Ray asked, exasperation in his tone. A slow grin spread over Lucas’s face and he shook his head.

“Lastly, take care of the bastard. I think you boys know what I mean. I have no fucking clue how long you’ve been dating him but now that I know, you better start taking him on dates and shit. Treat him the way he deserves to be treated, alright?”

“Well, of course.” It was Ryan who interrupted him that time, a grin on his face as he wrapped an arm around Ray and pulled him closer. Lucas just raised an eyebrow and snorted,

“Did you already forgot my second point?”

“Uh -”

“Whatever, just get the hell out of the house already,” Lucas said, grinning as he waved a dismissive hand towards them. Michael and Gavin immediately scrambled off of the couch and hurried to the door. The rest of the them rose up off of the couch, Ryan still hugging Ray to his side. Lucas followed after them to the door. Just before Ray walked out with Ryan, he detached himself from the other boy and stepped up to his big brother.

“You’re an asshole and that was embarrassing, but… thanks, for understanding and stuff,” Ray muttered sheepishly, rubbing his arm. Lucas rolled his eyes and pulled his brother into his arms. They hugged for a few moments before Lucas pushed him towards the door, where the boys were waiting for Ray.

“Have fun,” Lucas said, watching them go. Before Geoff, who was the last one to leave, slipped out the door, he shouted,

“See ya’, you fuckin’ softie!”

Needless to say, Geoff had to dodge the door on his way out.

When they got into Geoff’s car, Ray ended up splayed across the laps of Michael, Gavin, and Ryan. Geoff and Jack sat up in the front, occasionally looking back to laugh at Ray’s position. Ray had his head in Ryan’s lap, his back on Michael’s lap, and his legs in Gavin’s lap with his feet pressed up against the door.

“Was it really that hard to decide whose lap I sat in?” he groaned as they turned a corner, his body sliding closer to the three boys he was currently laying on.

“Uh, pretty much,” Michael chuckled, slipping his fingers under the hem of Ray’s shirt to just gently prod his tummy.

The rest of the car ride consisted of terrible jokes, Ray’s complaining, and the boys singing along to most every Top 40s song on the radio. When they got to Gavin’s, Geoff was still humming Wrecking Ball as they got out of the car. Gavin dragged Ray out of the car and up to the door, fumbling with his keys.

“Bollocking hell,” he grumbled as he finally managed to line up the key with the knob. Suddenly, the door swung open and both Gavin and Ray gave rather unmanly squeals. Gavin’s mom, who had been the one to open the door, burst out into laughter.  
“You boys got here just in time, me and your dad were just about to head out with some friends,” she said, ruffling Gavin’s hair affectionately.

“Mum,” Gavin whined, “stop messing up my hair like that.”

“Oh, who’s this? New boyfriend?” she asked, grinning at Ray. Ray immediately found himself blushing when she turned her attention on him.

“He’s cute, kind of looks like Lucas. Is this the younger brother you’re always blabbering about?” Gavin’s mom teased the Brit.

“Mum!” Gavin squawked in annoyance.

“Fine, fine, jeez,” she laughed, putting her hands up in a surrendering gesture as she stepped away from the door. Gavin and Ray walked in first. Ray’s quiet greeting to Gavin’s mom was quickly overshadowed by the rest of the boy’s loud chorus of, “Hey, Mrs. Free!” as they walked in.

Just as they were ambling through the hall towards Gavin’s room, dorking around with each other, they came face to face with Gavin’s dad as he stepped out of the master bedroom. He glanced over them all for a moment, spending a bit more time to look over Ray with a raised eyebrow. Ray was once again, blushing under the scrutinization.

“Boys,” he finally spoke, giving them all a small smile. Or at least, Ray was sure he was smiling. It was hard to see past the glorious mustache the man was sporting; it was even curling at the ends!

“Mr. Free,” they all responded, apart from Gavin who said,

“Hey, dad.”

“I’m sure your mum told you we were heading out for the night,” his dad said, nodding towards Gavin who nodded back.

“Alright, good. Don’t break anything while we’re gone,” he warned the group of boys before pushing past them to get out of the hallway. They watched the older man for a moment before they continued on their way. Just as Ray was about to walk into Gavin’s room, he heard Gavin’s dad talking in a strained voice with Gavin’s mom. It was hard to hear but he could pick out a strands of sentences.

“...another boy, Sabrina! Goddamn, I know I promised I was going to accept his relationship but this is getting ridiculous…”

Suddenly, a rather solemn-faced Gavin pulled Ray into his room and shut the door behind them. Ray hadn’t even realized he had stopped to listen.

Gavin’s room wasn’t exactly small, but it wasn’t that big either. There was a queen-sized bed pushed into the farthest corner against the wall, with a deep green futon pressed up against the foot of the bed. The futon was pulled out into a lounging position. On a black TV stand a few feet from the futon, sat a 32” inch flat-screen, an Xbox 360 resting on the shelf just below it. Games were stacked on two of the other shelves with three controllers taking up the last shelf.

Michael was already setting up the game they were going to play and the rest of them, excluding Gavin and Ray, were already lounging around. Ryan sat on the bed with Jack and Geoff, the group taking up both sides.

When Gavin looked back at his door with the same look on his face, Ray realized he must have heard his dad too. With no better way to try and make Gavin feel better, he simply wrapped his arms around the Brit’s stomach and hugged him tightly.

“No matter how cool his mustache is, it doesn’t matter what he thinks of you,” Ray muttered into his chest. Gavin chuckled and wrapped his arms around Ray in response. He pressed a kiss to the top of the younger boy’s head and hummed in agreement. Michael turned his gaze away from the TV to glare at the door, a scowl on his face.

"What'd he say this time?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter," Gavin replied, trying to sound nonchalant. Michael sighed, shaking his head.

"Come sit down, let's just take turns in GTA. Longest kill streak wins," Michael said, a small smile on his face. Ray pulled away from Gavin and the two took a seat on the futon next to Michael. Gavin took the first turn. It took all of two minutes for Gavin to be mowed down by a cop car but he was laughing again, so it didn't matter.

Ray ended up winning, obviously. His prize? Being in a Team Nice Dynamite sandwich, with a side of Team Gents. Long story short, Ray was the center of the love pile and he had never been more grateful for Gavin's parents being gone.

They had put on a movie but it was just white noise now. Even if anybody wanted to listen to the movie, they'd have a little trouble hearing it over the noises Ray couldn't stop making. Both Michael and Gavin were mouthing at his neck, nipping every now and then. When a whimper slipped out of his mouth, he could practically feel their smirks.

His shirt was rucked up to his armpits. Ryan and Geoff were pressing kisses to his bare skin. And Jack? Jack was giving him a foot massage, leaning up and over sometimes to kiss his stomach.

When Michael suddenly began sucking on his pulse point, Ray gave a surprised moan and arched up, squirming. Michael stopped a moment later, chuckling quietly. A faint mark was forming on his neck.

"Asshole," Ray muttered breathlessly, the corners of his lips curling up.

"It's mental how sensitive you are," Gavin teased playfully, "You're even more sensitive than Michael and that's saying something."

"Hey!" Michael muttered indignantly.

"Shut up, you mong. You know it's true," Gavin said, smirking. Ray laughed at the pout on Michael's face; he was sure it was meant to be a scowl. Someone lapped at his ribs, kissing his skin messily.

Ray's laugh turned into desperate mewls.

There was another mouth on his stomach then. Jack's soft lips rubbed against his skin and suddenly, he blew a raspberry. Ray burst out in shrill laughter, squirming underneath them all.

"Stop!" he whined loudly as Jack blew another raspberry on his tummy. Fingers scratched his sides and he seized up, laughing loudly. He tried to push them off or roll away, but his attempts were futile.

"Get off, you assholes!" Ray shouted, tears in his eyes as uncontrollable laughter rattled in his chest. His stomach was beginning to hurt. A few moments later, the tickling died down. Ray panted, bringing up a hand to brush away his tears. He couldn't help but grin broadly, rubbing that same hand over his face.

"I hate you all," he muttered as Michael pulled him into his arms, smoothing his shirt down. Gavin scooted after him and peppered kisses all over his face.

"No way," Gavin chuckled.

"Can we make a 'no tickling' rule?" Ray whined as the rest of them crawled up on either side of them. Gavin laid an arm over Ray and Michael.

"Nope, it's too much fun," Ryan said, a grin on his face. He wrapped an arm around Gavin's waist. Jack and Geoff flopped down next to Ryan, Geoff splaying out across the two.

They all settled down to watch the rest of the movie, even though they didn't understand what was happening.

Ray's eyes started to droop later that night. As he began to nod off in Michael's arms, his thoughts drifted. He still couldn't believe he could call them all his boyfriends. The word alone made his stomach flutter, yet now he had five of them. Five, very different boyfriends who loved each other and hopefully loved him too. It was mind-boggling.

"Hey, Ray?" A soft whisper knocked him out of his thoughts. When Ray opened his eyes, he realized it was Gavin who was speaking.

"Yeah?" Ray murmured.

"I'm really glad you're with us now," the Brit replied, a small smile on his lips.

"Me too."

"I mean it. Is it... is it dumb that I feel like I finally found a piece I've been missing?" Gavin asked, searching Ray's face. Ray shook his head and smiled back. They both leaned forward and their mouths slotted together in a sleepy, open-mouthed kiss.

"I love you, I love all of you," Ray murmured against Gavin's lips. In his tired state, he couldn't find it in himself to be embarrassed about his sudden declaration.

"I love you too, we all do," Gavin replied before pressing their lips back together. Two of the other boys on the bed murmured a word of agreement, Ray guessed the rest of them were asleep. When Ray and Gavin pulled away, Gavin grabbed Ray's hand and squeezed it gently.

Just before Ray fell asleep, a thought passed through his mind. He had enough memorable mistakes to count up to four on his fingers. One, falling asleep at the barber shop and waking up with a goddamn mohawk. Two, spilling soda on his brother's vintage porno magazine set. Three, having his parents accidentally overhear him as he explained to said brother why the magazines were out in the first place.

And four? Spending so much time mulling over his crushes on them instead of acting on them. In all honesty, he was just thankful he had managed to get the courage up in the first place. Now all he had to do was make up for lost time.


End file.
